Chapter 84

The sounds of the struggle at the Xuanwu Gate echoed from afar. The officials standing before the Taiji Palace were now very silent, as Li Yuan emerged from the Zhaohua Palace, his body bent but standing like a mountain on the highest step of the Taiji Palace, coldly observing the ministers below.

"Your Majesty, should we go and take a look? The sounds of battle are deafening, what is happening?" Xiao Yu, the fearless old man, was the first to step forward, facing Li Yuan's almost lethal gaze.

"We agree, Your Majesty!" As soon as someone took the lead, the others followed suit. They had long wanted to see for themselves. Although they all knew what was happening, they needed to see it with their own eyes to determine which side would be more beneficial to support.

"What, do you all want to watch your emperor's sons kill each other?" Li Yuan's voice was low, but it made a group of civil and military officials fall silent. This statement was a direct attack on their hearts. If they insisted on going to watch, it would be seen as mocking the royal family, a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations. So they all retreated, fearing that Li Yuan might look at them unfavorably and impose such a severe punishment, leaving them dead without knowing how.

"You all know what is happening there. I will not hide it from you. Whoever comes from there will be the next ruler of the Tang Empire! I will abdicate and pass the throne to him! Cough, cough..." The smell of blood carried by the morning breeze made Li Yuan uncomfortable, and he began to cough.

"Your Majesty, take care of your health! We will follow your orders!" Wu Shiyue, a general who started as a timber merchant, spoke up.

"Wu Aiqing, I know my own body. Mr. Sun said I have at most fifteen years left, provided I take good care of myself and follow all the necessary precautions. But I cannot abide by so many restrictions, so I have at most ten years left. I worked hard to sit on this throne, but in these nearly ten years, I have not relaxed for a single day. It is harder to maintain the empire than to establish it. I am tired and do not want to worry about state affairs anymore. Since those three boys all want to sit on the throne, why not let them? I can finally enjoy a peaceful life; these years have been too exhausting!" Li Yuan took a deep breath of the cold air, gradually getting used to the familiar smell of blood.

"Your Majesty, are you really going to let the three princes fight to the death? They are all your sons, brothers by the same mother!" Lu An, a representative of the Fan Yang Lu family, served as a middle-ranking official in the Ministry of Rites. He was very particular about etiquette and hierarchy, which is why he chose this relatively clean department. Although this department had little real power, it had a wide range of responsibilities, including matters of etiquette and hierarchy in the imperial palace and the homes of officials. Therefore, the fratricidal conflict, which violated the teachings of the sages and the laws of propriety, should be stopped immediately, not just waited out.

"Since Lu Aiqing has this resolve, then you should go and persuade them! I will wait here for your good news!" How could Li Yuan stop it? He was the one who instigated it, summoning Li Er with a secret order. If they did not fight, it would not align with his intentions.

"Your Majesty, this..." Lu An did not expect Li Yuan to send him alone. On the battlefield, anyone could strike him, and even a common soldier could end his life.

"What, you don't want to go? I knew you would talk big but do nothing. With your weak and feeble appearance, who could you stop?" Wu Shiyue snorted, understanding the emperor's intentions. As one of the earliest followers of Li Yuan, he knew a bit about the内幕, enough to guess the dirty details.

"You..." Lu An's face turned red, his cloudy eyes glaring at Wu Shiyue, his beard twitching, making him look ridiculous.

Let's leave the bickering officials at the Taiji Palace for now and take a look at the battlefield at the Xuanwu Gate.

A Xuanjia Guard had just cut his enemy in half at the waist and turned to attack another, but was impaled from behind by a spear. He looked down at the fist-sized hole in his chest, blood flowing from his mouth, and fell off his horse.

"Kill for me! Break through the encirclement, and there will be great rewards!" Li Jiancheng's voice was hoarse, his sword stained with blood, dripping down the blade. His face was covered in blood, and his eyes glinted with a cold, murderous light.

A soldier from the Six Rates of the Crown Prince thrust his spear into the abdomen of an opposing Xuanjia Guard, but the guard leaped from his horse, impaling the soldier with the spear. The soldier's body slid down the spear and collided with the guard, both falling off their horses and being trampled into a bloody mess by the hooves of the surrounding horses.

Li Kuan stood on the city wall, watching this scene, feeling a sense of helplessness. Life was so fragile, and in this moment, human life was as cheap as grass.

This time, since he did not participate in the battle, the system did not deduct energy points. However, Li Kuan felt it would have been better if the system had deducted them. Although he did not know how the system compensated the families of the dead, he assumed it would be fair and better than the compensation of this era. These were people who died to help Li Er ascend the throne, and they deserved proper recognition.

"Ladies, follow me! Today, I will kill those two heartless dogs!" A feminine voice rang out, and the closed city gate of the Xuanwu Gate creaked open. A group of female cavalry, dressed in leather armor and armed with short spears, charged in, led by Li Xiu'ning, whom Li Kuan feared. The Princess of Pingyang wore short armor, a long whip around her waist, and a skirt in the shape of a lotus, looking elegant and grand. She wore deer leather boots and rode a chestnut horse, her face cold and stern.

"Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, come out and face your deaths!" Li Xiu'ning shouted, her short spear swinging to block two incoming spears. She took a few steps forward to avoid a charging soldier, then uncoiled her whip, swinging it with her arm. The whip whistled through the air, wrapping around a soldier's neck, and with a pull, she threw him against the wall.

"Pfft..." The unfortunate soldier's head burst like a ripe melon, a scene that made Li Chenggan and Li Ke, standing on the city wall, vomit.

Li Kuan wrinkled his nose. Damn, these two guys ate so much this morning despite being told to eat less. Now they were vomiting profusely, and the smell was just as described in a commercial he had seen in the future: "This sourness, it's almost deadly!"

"Li Jiancheng, you dare to act but not to take responsibility. Do you still want to ascend the throne? With your cowardly nature, you would only be a puppet! Li Yuanji, you are so ugly that even Father did not despise you and made you the Prince of Qi. Is this how you repay him? Have your consciences been eaten by dogs?" Li Xiu'ning fought while shouting, criticizing the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi.

"Third Sister, don't act so high and mighty. What have we done? The Second Brother is no better! You and the Second Brother are two of a kind, stop pretending to be a saint!" Li Yuanji, who was fighting with Cheng Yaojin, retorted, unable to bear it.

"Still talking while fighting with me? It seems I haven't used enough force. Now, taste the three moves of the spear I've developed over the years—the first move, Meteor!" Cheng Yaojin roared, feeling insulted that his opponent could still talk while fighting him. He used his most powerful move, which he had developed over his military career. The first move, Meteor, was a direct thrust, but an extremely fast one, like a meteor streaking across the sky. This move was only used in battle, not against his own brothers.

Li Yuanji saw a flash of cold light before his eyes and instinctively swung his spear to block. However, before he could complete the swing, the cold light was already in front of him, growing brighter and brighter until it filled his entire field of vision.

"Leave him alive! Capture him alive!" Li Er, hearing Cheng Yaojin's roar, knew Li Yuanji was finished. This brute had used his most lethal move, which Li Er's third brother, known for his strength, could not block. Li Er had seen these moves before, and even before Cheng Yaojin joined him, his generals like Duan Zhixuan had experienced them. Cheng Yaojin had fought Duan Zhixuan and Qu Tugong for three hundred rounds using these moves, and they could not defend against them, leaving them no choice but to retreat.

Hearing the order from the city wall, Cheng Yaojin slightly adjusted his spear, which was aimed at Li Yuanji's neck, to his shoulder, piercing through his shoulder blade and disabling his arm. Li Yuanji's spear fell to the ground.

Cheng Yaojin applied a bit more force, sweeping Li Yuanji off his horse and pointing the blood-dripping spear at his forehead, making Li Yuanji dare not move.

"Ha ha... I, Cheng Yaojin, have won!" Cheng Yaojin signaled the soldiers to tie up Li Yuanji and laughed.

"Zhizhe, come and help!" Qin Qiong was at a disadvantage in his fight with Xue Wanren. The general was truly old, his gray hair showing the toll of time. At over fifty, Qin Qiong's strength was no longer at its peak, and he was slightly inferior to the young and strong Xue Wanren.

Xue Wanren was also a rare brave warrior, using not a regular spear but a unique weapon—the Azure Dragon Halberd. Unlike the Heaven-Piercing Halberd, the Azure Dragon Halberd emphasized slashing, and in the hands of the immensely strong Xue Wanren, it was a formidable weapon.

"Alright, Second Brother, I'll help you!" Cheng Yaojin turned his horse and galloped towards Qin Qiong.